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Jayawardene: We Need To Pull Our Socks Up

Thursday 15 January 2009

©REUTERS/Andrew Biraj (BANGLADESH) Picture Supplied by Action Images

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene admits that his side needs to put in an improved performance if they are to beat Bangladesh in tomorrow's tri-series final in Mirpur.

Bangladesh stunned the 1996 World Cup winners with a five-wicket win on Wednesday but Jayawardene was philosophical when asked about the defeat.

"We had one bad game after a long time," he said. "This can happen in cricket. We just need to pull our socks up. We have quality players and I am sure that they will be up and ready for the big match."

Jayawardene paid tribute to the way in which Bangladesh, who had earlier lost to Zimbabwe, played during their win.

"We have been beaten by a team that played better cricket than us on the day. Credit should go to them. Some of the Bangladesh players had great games, Mortaza (Masrafe) in bowling and Shakib (Al Hasan) in batting and we made a lot of mistakes and when you come across performances like Mortaza and Shakib's on such a day you are bound to lose. It was a bad day at office."

Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful is hopeful that his side can put together a second strong performance in a row, something they have not been able to do in their short international history.

"It is a good opportunity for us," he said. "Our confidence was down a bit after the first match but we have bounced back with the win against Sri Lanka. If the eleven of us bring our best cricket in the match and do well in all three departments then we can surely hope for a positive result.

"We realize that tomorrow we have a genuine chance if we do the process right and stick to the game plan. All of us want this year to be a big year for Bangladesh cricket. We compete well with the big teams and get positive results. Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to win a trophy and we are aware of that."